NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN12CA564
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s decision to continue the unstable approach, which resulted in a loss of control during landing and a runway excursion.
Factual narrative
The pilot was returning to the airport to land on runway 8. He stated that he overshot the final approach and had to maneuver the airplane back to the final approach course. The airplane was high on the approach so he extended 30 degrees of flaps and descended at an airspeed between 80 and 85 knots. The pilot stated that he felt that the approach was not stabilized; however, he continued the approach and landed. During the landing roll the pilot felt that he was being pushed by a strong tailwind and was unable to stop the airplane before the end of the runway. The airplane departed the runway environment to the right, went down a 65 foot embankment, and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe and both wings. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. Wind at the time of the accident was recorded as 340 degrees at 4 knots. The pilot stated that he overshot the final approach to the runway and had to maneuver the airplane back to the final approach course. Because the airplane was high on the approach, he extended 30 degrees of flaps and descended at an airspeed of between 80 and 85 knots. The pilot stated that he thought that the approach was not stabilized; however, he continued the approach and landed. The pilot further stated that, during the landing roll, he thought that the airplane was being pushed by a strong tailwind and that he was unable to stop the airplane before the end of the runway. The airplane departed the runway, went down an embankment, and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe and both wings. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Effect on operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2012_CEN12CA564.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control, runway excursion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2017 · Conference paper
Energy Safety Management: Mitigating Loss of Control Inflight
Under the new Airman Certification Standards (ACS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated for the first time that private and commercial pilot candidates demonstrate understanding of …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Runway Excursion — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary runway excursion review — RE-OE (overruns) + RE-LO (lateral). Risk drivers: long landing, high approach speed, contaminated surface, tailwind, mis-set autobrakes.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
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